For most of my life I’ve been what is sometimes described as “a nightowl” — someone who can easily stay up late (or even all night), which means I might not actually get to my desk until 10:00 AM or later, and I would write through the afternoon and evening.

But I wanted to change that. I wanted to get onto the same schedule as my wife and have my evenings free for other commitments. Plus, I’ve found that I’m simply WAY more productive in the morning (believe me, I hate to admit it but I am).

But I was still finding it difficult to get up in the morning. The reason is: My alarm would go off and I’d simply lack the willpower to haul my ass out of my insanely comfortable bed. (I hate admitting this to the world). So I moved my alarm clock to another room and it worked for a while but (I hate admitting this too) I would turn off the alarm and just crawl back into bed. So my alarm would go off at 6:00 AM and I’d shut it off and sleep until 8:00 AM usually. It’s not the end of the world, I guess, but it translates into losing two of my most productive hours.

So in May I want to push myself further. I’ve mastered my sleep now I need to master my waking up! So this month I’ll be extending my that sleep study to learn how to make sure I wake up at my best, plus, I’ll be pushing myself to get up at 5:00 AM daily.

WHY 5:00 AM?

I chose this time because I want to maximize the time I have available to work. The earlier I start, the earlier I achieve my writing goals and the earlier I can sign off for the day and enjoy the other great things life has to offer.

WHY DAILY?

Monday to Friday — that’s obvious. That’s when I work. But from the initial studies I’ve done on sleeping and waking up, it seems that there are some benefits to doing this every single day: it gets my body acclimatized to the time and to the habit (especially since I’m starting this challenge on the first of the month, which falls on a Friday).

I don’t think I’ll get up everyday for the rest of my life at 5:00 AM, but I will for May (with that two-day vacation exception in the middle of the month).

WHAT’S IN STORE

This May, I’ll be blogging everyday to share with you an update on how I’m doing — admitting my successes and struggles, as well as strategies and techniques that I’m using to help.